A weekly recap of my Mythic Weekend Ranked experience, this time doing a challenge of only using cards from the Welcome and Core set. This is my fifth weekend doing this challenge. Previously I completed a Free-To-Play (F2P) Gauntlet with all the Gods to show that they can all compete and get Legendary packs. See the summary thread here.
Well this is quite a surprise! I thought I was gonna do bad, especially since while I was practicing during the week with a Ramp Control version I did pretty badly, but I switched it up to a Midrange deck and I was able to get 15 wins with WelCore Magic! The Ramp Control version just did not have enough early/good AOE damage to deal with Nature, and against mirror matches (which was mostly Control) it was basically a coin flip. I thought that maybe putting in some early creatures would help against Nature and put some pressure on Magic, and I was right (although I didn’t expect to get 15 wins)! The burn spells really helped with reach against Control Magic too. Pretty glad I didn’t have to go through another horrible weekend like with Deception last time haha.
| Weekend | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| God | Light | War | Nature | Deception | Magic |
| Wins | 15 | 12 | 15 | 8 | 15 |
| Prize (USD) | $27.5 | $16.5 | $27.5 | $12 | $27.5 |
Here’s the deck that I used, costing 0.043 ETH or ~$9. And for reference here’s the Ramp/Control that I tried.
The only other weekend where I faced more Magic than other Gods was that one weekend when Leyhoard Hatchling was busted and everybody was playing it. This time it was mostly Control through as the new expansion gave it really good tools, and also to counter the Nature that was running rampant. Luckily though my deck did quite well against Control Magic and Magic in general, going 9-2 against them. What really helped was the early pressure and the burn spells to finish them off before their big creatures hit the board or can do anything. Against Nature I did ok, going 4-3. Actually didn’t do that well against other Gods especially Anubians; any God where they can constantly recover health is a bad matchup, plus they can damage you through your frontlines.
When I was first doing this challenge my mind went straight to Control Ramp Magic because it seems like that’s where a lot of the support is in Welcome and Core, but as I was playing it I realized that it was really lacking mid game cards plus the AOE damage needed to keep a clear board. That’s why I switched and found success with a Midrange deck which I never really played before, for Magic. The Core Refresh cards seemed mostly for the Dralamar combo, but it did buff Metamorphosis which is a great card.
Notable WelCore Cards
Metamorphosis is a brilliant and fun card, and it really turns the tides in battle. You can use it offensively or defensively; transforming a severely injured Cyclops Defender into a fresh Helian Elite, or transforming an enemy Polyhymnia into a 3/3 Leyhoard Hatchling. The last game I won during the weekend I transformed one of their big frontlines into something without frontline and went face plus burn for the win. Choralis Rune Moth provides amazing value if you can keep it alive; its only defensive trait is Backline though so it might be tough against most Gods. Against Nature it’s easier especially when you have other creatures on board. One game I got maybe 4-5 Runes of Fire from it haha. Epiphany isn’t played as much but I think it was notable in my deck especially for the reach that it gave, plus it cycles itself to draw you a card.
Missed Cards
Compared to the deck that I used in the F2P Gauntlet Challenge, you can see why WelCore Control isn’t that good. Although I used a Structure theme, some key cards that were used in most Control decks which are sorely missed are Lighting Talisman, All-Seeing Spire, Defend the Ramparts, Shaped Blast, and Labyrinth Guard. The Talisman and Defend the Ramparts provide the missing AOE damage before 5 mana, and Shaped Blast is such a good AOE spell compared to Crystal Rain because against Nature a lot of creatures are at 3 health. The Spire provides really good draw if left alone, and Labyrinth Guard is just a beast of a frontline that you can use to stabilize before your bigger creatures at 7+ mana. Oh, and Guild Enforcer, but ya’ll know how much I love that guy already haha.
Next week will be the last week of this challenge! And it’s going to be the toughest I think haha. Death just doesn’t have a good set of WelCore cards that work together. I have no idea what kinda deck I would put together. Faith Breaker seems to be the good Core Refresh card but running Soul Burn just for that and Fickle Cambion doesn’t seem like a great idea. Outside of that though I’m not quite sure what I can do… Implings are just a much weaker theme than Zombies. Not many decent Anubians… so yea I’m lost, let me know if ya’ll have any ideas!
My lowest rewards I've ever gotten with that abysmal 8 wins last weekend... some decent cards, but nothing really worth noting.